Germany mulls to send border guards to Rafah

BERLIN

​​​​​​​Germany announced Wednesday that it is planning to deploy border guards to help monitor the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt as part of a civilian European Union mission.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maximilian Kall confirmed the plans but provided limited details.

“All I can say is that we are coordinating it with the Foreign Office. Of course, it's about protecting the personnel that go there and ensuring that they are deployed safely,” Kall told reporters in Berlin.

Kall confirmed a report by the German Press Agency (dpa) stating that a 2005 cabinet decision would be amended to allow the deployment of armed forces. The original decision only permitted the deployment of unarmed border guards, but officials now consider the current security situation too dangerous for such an approach.

The deployment of German border guards and customs officials would be part of the European Union Border Assistance Mission at Rafah (EUBAM Rafah), which is set to resume operations after an 18-year hiatus. Established in 2005 to help monitor border crossings, the mission was suspended in 2007 after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, leading the EU to withdraw personnel due to its policy of non-cooperation with the group.